Gardening in February

This is the truck the morning after the Connecticut Horticulture Society's Symposium that Bob and I attended yesterday. Long day! We were up early to attend to all the "farm chores" before driving off to Hartford where Bob had been asked to present as a vendor. Fortunately, we made some money because we've done a few of these events and came home without having sold a bloody thing. Not only are you out the  money that they charge to be a vendor, but you are doubly frustrated by having to schlepp all that metalwork home again!

And while this may look like a truck full, it is a much lighter load than we left with. But at 5:00, when the symposium ended, this weighs way more than it did in the morning... coupled with the fact that the hall where we all set up was up a labyrinth of halls and elevators and some moron parked thier car right in front of the loading dock so that we all had to hand our items up and down and carry them to our trucks and vans. Bob and I were exhausted by the time we got home, but we did hear a few interesting lectures on shade gardening, odd edibles (paw paw and hardy persimmons), and gardening to encourage pollinators and beneficials. A nice diversion from that unwanted snow...

The heavy wet (and does anyone want to say "unexpected?") snow on Friday morning caused a heavy limb of the pine tree directly above Maggie's barn to break off. It scared the hell out of Maggie who circled, snorting and spooking for a good while afterwards. (She may have even been in the barn when it landed!) Much to my chagrin, she began chewing on the tips of the pine branches, forcing me to run into the house and do a quick google search to learn that pine tree needles are actually good for horses, providing a green, fresher source of vitamins and fodder in the winter. Who knew?

 

Bob and I pulled the branches down, Maggie gets a free lunch and no harm was done to the roof. Now, if only this snow would go away...
Oh! We might have been tired but we did manage to stay away long enough to hear 2/3 of the those foolish republicans take pot shots at each other. And we are very excited that Tuesday is the first primary AND the start to Mardi Gras! Where is my king cake?!?!?!